ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The New Product Pavilion at Medtrade Spring, held in Las Vegas last month, offered attendees a peek at the latest innovation in home medical equipment.
HomeCare News
Fourteen U.S. communities have been chosen for CMS' Care Transitions pilot to eliminate unnecessary hospital readmissions. The project, to continue through summer 2011, will promote "seamless transitions" from hospital to home, skilled nursing care or home health care to keep patients from returning to the hospital for ongoing care needs.
CMS has scheduled its next Home Health, Hospice and DME Open Door Forum Wednesday, May 13, from 2 pm to 3 pm ET. To participate by phone, dial 800/837-1935 and use Conference ID 94280596.
The Jurisdiction B DME MAC reminded providers last week that Medicare may not pay claims submitted on paper with certain exceptions. For a list of exceptions under the Administrative Simplification Compliance Act and an ASCA FAQ, visit www.NGSMedicare.com, select the DME supplier portal, then "Claims" and "Administrative Simplification Compliance Act."
BALTIMORE--In a statement issued Friday afternoon, CMS said the
interim final rule on competitive bidding would become effective as
scheduled April 18. The rule requires a rebid of Round One in
2009.
WASHINGTON--With only two days to go, industry supporters
continue the fight for rescission of the interim final rule on
competitive bidding. Unless the Obama administration issues an
executive order or CMS takes action to pull or delay the rule, it
will be implemented April 18.
WASHINGTON--According to Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, Congress has "been convinced before that a more competitive marketplace for durable medical equipment is the right way to move forward, and I think there is a way to do that and to meet them halfway."
ARLINGTON, Va.--In a letter sent Monday, the American
Association for Homecare and 27 regional and state home care
associations urged the White House Office of Health Reform, the
Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services to rescind the competitive bidding
interim final rule before it takes effect April 18.
ATLANTA — With just days left before the interim final rule goes into effect, the HME community is hammering away to get the specter of DMEPOS competitive bidding eliminated.
ARLINGTON, Va. — The American Association for Homecare intends to put its reworked 15-point plan for oxygen reform before Congress following a "yes" vote by its board, the association said last week. But during a nationwide call Thursday, it was clear some stakeholders are not so sure about the move.
WASHINGTON — Invacare Chairman and CEO Mal Mixon was among a group of health care executives invited to a roundtable discussion April 8 with White House health reform chief Nancy-Ann DeParle.
WASHINGTON — On April 2, U.S. Reps. Zach Space, D-Ohio, and Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., introduced the Preserve Patents Access to Reputable DMEPOS Providers Act of 2009 (H.R. 1970). The bill would exempt pharmacies from having to post DMEPOS surety bonds.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Aiming to create a separate Medicare benefit for complex rehab, the American Association for Homecare's Rehab and Assistive Technology Council has launched a task force charged with drafting legislation toward that end.
ARLINGTON, Va. — The American Association for Homecare reported last week it has retained a Washington health care consulting firm to develop several cost estimates for eliminating national competitive bidding. In developing the estimates, the firm will mirror methods used by the Congressional Budget Office, which works up the costs of legislative proposals before Congress.
PITTSBURGH — The Braff Group said earlier this month that even amid a worldwide recession, there were a record number of mergers and acquisitions in some sectors of home health in 2008. Home medical equipment, however, was not one of them.
>MIAMI — The Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America celebrated its first anniversary on Friday. It was on April 10, 2008, that "over 150 providers, manufacturers and industry representatives met at the Fort Lauderdale Sheraton to work together to stop competitive bidding from beginning July 1," said Rob Brant, AMEPA president, in marking the association's birthday.
BALTIMORE — CMS has scheduled a special Open Door Forum for Part B providers on its new Recovery Audit Contractor program Tuesday, April 14, from 2-3:30 pm ET. The agency has announced four permanent RACs and will expand the program to all 50 states in a gradual rollout during 2010. To listen in, call 800/837-1935 and reference Conference ID 92489480.
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi state lawmakers have refused to repeal a state rule that requires Medicaid beneficiaries to renew their enrollment in person each year, according to an April 2 report in the Miami Herald. Data show the number of uninsured children in the state has increased by 146,000, or 72 percent, since the policy was implemented in 2005, the report said. According to Gov.
OLIVETTE, Mo. — Home Delivery Incontinent Supplies will become "a broader one-stop shop for consumer health and wellness products" with its recent acquisition of Best Buy Healthcare, the company said. Founded in 1986, HDIS is a mail order marketer of specialty medical supplies for bladder control.
ST. LOUIS — Responsive Respiratory has expanded its warehouse and manufacturing facilities for the second time in two years; the company doubled its warehouse and office space in 2007. The recent increase makes room for the manufacturing of an expanded line of industrial carts and racks and the customization of products through RRI's Private Logo Program.